Mandalay, Myanmar - 3 October 2024 - There is a Salesian community in the city of Mandalay, northern Myanmar, that warmly welcomes young people and now cares for 52 street children with fatherly love. Needless to say, all these children have come to the centre for different reasons, each of them with a very sad story behind them. Some have already lost both parents, or are orphans of one of them. The Salesians, under the leadership of Director Fr Raphael Thu Rein Oo, SDB, provide these children with a shelter to stay, food to survive on, a school to study in and, above all, a home/family to belong to. For their integral development, the Salesian community makes them study in a nearby public school run by Buddhist monks. On weekends, the children attend educational classes, general culture, catechesis, basic English music and traditional prayers. They also have daily mass, the rosary and the traditional Salesian 'good night'. "The children are very happy and feel at home at the centre. Some openly and sincerely express that they no longer want to leave. How proud we Salesians are when our centre is a festive oratory for young people in need," say the Salesians of the Mandalay community.